Like all our wins this year, I thoroughly enjoyed that. I like we are still trying to maintain our ability to defend gallantly as the basis for our game, but are gradually adding flair and pizazz with the ball. I really feel we are just beginning to see some really good green shoots from a policy of trying to pick more natural footballers with good decision making in recent years. It is going to be up and down for a while, but the signs are all there that we are not going to be hanging around down bottom for long....
Awesome game from McInerney tonight - I enjoyed watching him in ressies a few times last season, but tonight was the first time he really looked seriously at home at AFL level. That gorgeous pulled kick into the pocket - a thing of beauty.
Clarke deserves a lot of credit too - he did well tonight. And we are just beginning to see just how potent Blakey is going to become in time around the ground. 16 touches and most meters gained on the park tonight - his left boot when he kicks through the ball is lovely to watch. He and Dawson are going to be key cogs in years to come - they both have an ability to break open the play. We could use a right footer of similar quality however.
My highlight moment for the night however didn't lead to anything, but that passage in the third where Rowbottom just bulldozed his way through a bunch of players I just love how he plays the game - I have no doubts we have an absolute star in the making in him. Nice clever finish for the opener too!
After a rat@@@@ week at work, tonight was just what the doctor ordered - well done Swans!
"You get the feeling that like Monty Python's Black Knight, the Swans would regard amputation as merely a flesh wound."
How? Going to the draft and playing the kids we pick. When the kids have got 100 games of experience they'll be the nucleus of a very good side.
There are only two clubs in the competition that have used exactly one first-round draft pick in each of the last four seasons. Sydney is one of them. North Melbourne is the other. Keep an eye on the Roos. They've had a shocker this year due to injury (16 players out last week) but I reckon they're maybe a year behind us. I'm looking forward to knocking them off in the 2025 Grand Final, as payback for 1996.
"Unbelievable!" -- Nick Davis leaves his mark on the 2005 semi final
I think Macca proved he can play and is starting to read the game much better. Impressive second quarter. Second half a bit sloppy but I have often noticed that when teams have played in Cairns. You would Imagine that with Isaac Heeney, Buddy Franklin, George Hewett, Dane Rampe, Naismith, C Mills that we would be a half decent side. I did use the word "Imagine" .
I like this from the match report on the AFL website:
We have a good record of recruiting forwards who play out their careers starring in defence. Leo Barry and "Reg" Grundy are two examples. Will McCartin join them?Have the Swans found a key back for the future?
Tom McCartin's move to defence was initiated at half-time last week and continued from the outset against the Demons. And like he did in the second half against Port Adelaide's Charlie Dixon, the 20-year-old looks well and truly at home in defence. With Callum Mills (calf) a late out, the Swans threw his replacement Hayden McLean forward and kept McCartin in defence. While he was been used as a defender earlier in his career, it's a move John Longmire can consider as permanent.
"Unbelievable!" -- Nick Davis leaves his mark on the 2005 semi final
Even though we've only had 5 wins thus far, we've managed to score a win in each state!
Two guys I want to give credit to who want show up in the stats sheet are Fox and Hayward.
Fox has quietly won his one-on-one battles regularly slotting in nicely in our team defence structure. Only 3 possessions but 8 tackles if you don't mind.
Hayward is playing such a tough, team game lately. He cops a bit on here but I reckon he is playing as a defensive forward stopping the intercept mark and doing a terrific job.
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